1. Technical Field
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a droplet discharge head and an image forming apparatus including the droplet discharge head.
2. Related Art
Among various types of image forming apparatuses including a printer, a facsimile machine, a copier, a plotter, and a multifunction apparatus combining several capabilities of the above devices, an inkjet recording apparatus has been known as an image forming apparatus using a liquid discharging recording method, in which a recording head formed of a droplet discharge head (droplet discharge head) to discharge droplets is employed.
In the droplet discharge head, when an individual liquid chamber is compressed to discharge the droplet, fluctuation of the pressure generated in the individual liquid chamber is propagated as a pressure wave to a common liquid chamber (or a common channel) to supply liquid to the plurality of individual liquid chambers. When the pressure wave propagated to the common liquid chamber is inversely propagated to the individual liquid chamber, the pressure in the individual liquid chamber fluctuates so that a meniscus of a nozzle is not controlled, the droplet is not discharged at a predetermined droplet speed in a predetermined droplet amount (or a droplet volume), thereby causing a misfiring of the droplet. In addition, when the pressure wave propagated to the common liquid chamber further propagates to the adjacent individual liquid chamber, the propagation causes a reciprocal interference to adversely affect the liquid itself, thereby inducing a leak or discharge of droplet from the unintended nozzle and unstable discharge.
One approach to cope with the above problem is to provide a deformable damper area in a part of the wall member that forms a wall of the common liquid chamber, and a damper chamber formed on a channel substrate and opposite the common liquid chamber, which is exposed to external air via the damper area from an edge surface of the channel substrate.
However, when the damper chamber is formed on the channel substrate, part of the damper chamber becomes hollow, compromising the rigidity of the channel substrate. In particular, when the wall member and the common liquid chamber member to form the common liquid chamber are laminated together with the channel substrate, portions opposite the hollow portion of the damper chamber are not laminated. As a result, when pressure of vibration due to droplet discharge is propagated, vibration is generated and is propagated to the liquid in the channel substrate, thereby causing fluctuations of the droplet discharge property.